A PLANNING application to build three houses on a site in a housing restraint and special landscape area is expected to be approved, despite objections from people living nearby.

Wiltshire Council’s southern area planning committee will meet on Thursday to discuss the proposal for Heatherfield on Oak Drive in Alderbury and council officers have recommended that permission is granted, subject to conditions.

The application by Andrew Pywell to demolish the existing bungalow, garage and two sheds and replace them with two four-bedroom houses and one three-bedroom has been met with opposition from neighbours.

The council initially received 14 letters of objection from residents and an objection from the parish council, raising issues such as the impact on wildlife, the loss of a meadow used to keep donkeys and the impact on residents of Oak Drive and Wattle Cottage.

The plans were then amended to address some of the points raised but the council received a further four letters of objection.

The site, which is about 1.4 hectares, is mostly grass and contains numerous plants, trees and shrubs. Many people are concerned about the loss of open space, as housing restraint criteria says development is only acceptable if there is no adverse impact on the character of the settlement and neighbourhood, no loss of important open space and no loss of features such as trees, hedges and walls.

But officers say ecological reports and landscape and visual impact assessments have been carried out and the scheme should be approved.

The committee will consider the application at its meeting at 6pm on Thursday in the City Hall.